a third-year teacher's escapades in the realm of the public high school. sometimes witty. sometimes sad. sometimes angry. always exhausted. it's a bumpy ride, but i wait for the moments that make it worth it.

Monday, February 27, 2006

someone's got a case of the mondays.

i hate mondays. i feel as if i'm not prepared for my day even though i've had the whole weekend to get ready. i just get out of grown-up mode, and it's difficult to transition. and today was like every other monday...these morning collaboration meetings are a waste of my time. bumbling department chair rambles about how students needn't make connections in their education. today we wasted thirty minutes jumping from topic-to-topic with the english hags not simply ignoring any sort of idea i'd have, but instead being openly hostile towards me...because afterall what would a first-year teacher know? love collaboration...especially when i'm belittled for being creative or doing things differently. i'll just shut my door and keep doing what i'm doing.thus began my morning, and it only got better from there...my morning delinquents *and i use that term lovingly, as this is my favorite class* have a difficult time transitioning from weekend mode to learning time as well. so, i decided to take it easy on them *and myself* this morning and show a film. for whatever reason they were just slow on the uptake this morning, so i had to pause the film every few minutes and breakdown what was going on...this was frustrating for both myself and for them...then came the best part of the day...where my students basically let me know that my hard work to make things educational and enjoyable for them was totally unappreciated. instead of giving review notes like the other teachers, i created a jeopardy game on powerpoint that took me two hours or so only to have my students criticize it then ask why i was getting so defensive when i got angry at their comments. i attempted to explain to them how i spend a lot of time crreating lessons for them, and they don't appreciate them. i was angry and upset, and i nearly started crying. i made them feel awful...i think i may've gotten them thinking...or possibly that's just wishful thinking on my part...